Transparent package



A ril 13, 1965 P. J. FETZEK 3,1 78,019

TRANSPARENT PACKAGE Filed Sept. 26, 1963 z INVENTOR.

PAUL J. FETZEK imzlimb ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,178,019TRANSPARENT PAQKAGE Paul J. Fetzelr, Toledo, Ohio, assignor to EltraCorporation, Toledo, Ohio, a corporation of New York Filed Sept. 26,1963, Ser. No. 311,754 1 Claim. (Cl. 206-78) This invention relates to amerchandizing package and more particularly to a method of showing aninformative relationship between the merchandising package and itscontents.

The invention contemplates the provision of a transparent plasticpackage of a type generally referred to as a bubble package, which isprovided with an informative configuration relative to its end use, forexample to indicate the fact that internal combustion engine ignitionparts are contained in the package.

The invention provides a package structure for automotive ingnitionparts having a first transparent outer portion resembling a distributorcap, and a second transparent inner holding portion to cooperate withthe first portion to form chambers, both portions being suitably mountedin a cooperative relation on a stiff supporting card.

The invention further contemplates the provision of a transparentpackage having a suggestive configuration that is related to itscontents and which also aids a purchaser by giving him technicalinformation for the use of the contents.

It is, therefore, a principal object of the invention to provide apackage having sales appeal for ignition parts which has a suggestivetransparent cover formed to resemble a conventional distributor cap.-

It is another object of the invention to provide a transparent packageof the type described which includes means to retain the ignition partscontained in the package in the same relative position within thepackage which they have during actual use, so as to indicate to a userthe exact positions the parts are to be mounted in the automotivevehicle.

Other objects and advantages of this invention relating to thearrangement, operation and function or" the related elements of thestructure, to various details of construction, to combinations of partsand to economies of manufacture will be apparent to those skilled in theart upon consideration of the following description and appended claim,reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of thisspecification wherein like reference characters designate correspondingparts in the several views.

Referring to the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a transparent package havingignition parts contained therein, a portion of a support member of thepackage being broken away;

FIG. 2 is a sectional elevation through the package elements showing theassembly of transparent shells and a support member; and

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the support member alone showing an integralflap member.

Referring to the drawings, particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, a preferredform of a sales package it is shown of a type generally referred to as abubble package which consists of transparent shells provided with asuggestive form to indicate the type of merchandise oliered for sale inthe package. The merchandizing package comprises a transparent outershell member 12, an inner transparent shell member 1 fitted therein, anda relatively stiff card member 16 which supports the two transparentshell members in their cooperative relation.

The card member 16 is a one-piece member folded over on itself, as shownat 17 (FIG. 2), to provide a doublelayer construction having upper andlower plies 16a and 1611. A circular flap member 18 is cut in the card16 which is hinged to the portion 1611' by an integral hinge portion16:: of the card-(FIGS. 2 and 3). An aperture 19. is provided at theupper end of the card adjacent the fold 17 to facilitate displaying thepackage in a handling v the superposed flange portions 12a and 14abearing against the' bottom side of the forward card portion 160. Thelower ply 16b and the flap 18 underlie the flanges to support them inposition between the plies'of the support member, the flanges 12a and14a being cut away adjacent the hinge portion 160 to provide thenecessary clearance at that point. The package may be maintained inassembled relation, as shown in FIG. 1, in any convenient manner byproviding a holding means such as cement, staples, or the like aroundthe edges of the card between the plies to hold the plies together.

An important feature of the invention is the novel method of relatingthe outer configuration of the package shells to the contents of thepackage being olfered for sale. The package disclosed is designed tocontain repair parts for an ignition distributor including a condenser21, a set of breaker points 23, and a rotor 24. The outer shell member12 is formed of relatively thin transparent plastic material by a vacuummolding process from a fiat sheet of thermoplastic material and isconformed in outline to provide a relationship to the contents, as shownin FIG. 1. A con-figuration is given to the outer shell 12 resemblingthat of a typical distributor cap and usually has a plurality ofprojecting tower portions 121) formed in its upper surface to resemblethe towers housing cableconnecting sockets of a typical distributor cap.The member 12 is not a distributor cap but merely a suggestiverepresentation of one for sales appeal. The configuration of the coverthus indicates to a purchaser of repair parts the specific class ofmerchandise contained in the package (i.e., ignition parts), which alsoallows visual examination of the contents by a purchaser.

An additional feature in the package is the inner transparent shellmember 14 which is mounted in nesting relation with the outer shell 12to provide a transverse membrane to maintain some of the ignition partsin given positions to suggest the operating relations of the parts in anactual distributor housing. The member 14 is cupshaped and has acentrally-located depending cup-like cavity 141'; formed therein whichholds the rotor 24 in a vertical position substantially as shown inFIG. 1. An annular space is formed in the inner shell 14 around thecavity 1412, between the bottom of the shell member 14 and the flap 18of the holding card which is dimensioned to loosely hold the condenser21 and the breaker points 23 in the annular space at a level below therotor to resemble the final position during use. This provides a meansfor better visual examination of the portions of the various repairparts and also retains the parts in their final mounting positionsduring use in relation to each other.

The desirable characteristic of the package from a merchandizingstandpoint can be further enhanced by providing a printed diagram on thebacking member which will inform the purchaser of the exact mountinglocation or position of the various repair parts within a distributorhousing on the automotive vehicle. This diagram (not shown) may beprinted in color with photographic illustrations on the flap 18 ofthecard 16 and may portray the parts exactly as they would appear in thedistributor, the flap being used to representadistribw tor plate. a

The invention as shown and described is not to be limited.to-the'numberof projections 1'2'b"on the cover 'member whichin this case represents asi-x cylinder engine. 'Fhe same type of package could. be'used forignition parts for other engines such as four end eight cylinderengines.

It is to 'be understood thatthe above detailed descrip-" tion of thepresent invention is intended to disclose an embodiment thereof to thoseskilled in the art, but that the invention is not 'to be construed aslimited in its application to the details of construction andarrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings since Ithe'invention is capable of being practiced and carried o'utfin variousways without departing from the spirit of the invention. The languageused in the specification relating to the-operation and functionof theelements of the "invention is employed for purposes of description andnotof limitation, and it is not intended to limit the scope of thefollowing claim beyond the requirements of the prior art "Whatisclaimed:

In apaekage for merchandising repair parts for anignition' distributorfor internal combustion engines com;

prising an outer inverted cup-shaped transparent plastic cover memben aninner inverted cup-shaped transparent 185,890 Barton Aug. 11, 1959'2,557,794 Nicolle June 19, 19 51 20 3,054,503 7 Hartman Sept. 18, 19623,063,557 Scholl a. Nov. 13, 1962 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,174,762; France VNov. 10, 1958 V 4 f a 7 plastic holding member nested within the outermember, the bottom of which forms'a transverse wall across the outermember substantially parallel to the bottom thereof,

1 said wall having a central depending well to form a lower gReferen cesCited in-the fileof this patent UNITED-STATES PATENTS" 7 OTHERREFERENCES I Publication:'(Modern Packaging) September 1957.

TI-I l-ERON E. CONDON, Primary Examiner. j

GEORGE o. RALSTON, Examiner,

